Let the War Begin!
by KeyofNostalgia
Summary: An incident between Shulk and Reyn leads to a series of "battles" between them, and their friends are most likely going to join (or be dragged) in the frenzy. Characters may be slightly (or a lot) OOC.
1. Payback

In the Residential District, Shulk and Reyn were taking a break from their regular activities. Reyn sweated profusely and was in the process of ranting.

"I'm telling you, Square-tache is trying to kill us! 200 curl-ups in a minute? IT'S MADNESS!"

Shulk winced as his eardrums seemed to shatter. "Reyn, I think that the citizens would appreciate it if you lowered your voice a bit." _My ears would definitely have a better chance of survival, _he thought.

"Oh. Sorry," Reyn sheepishly said. "Well, anyways-"he was cut off by Shulk's unusually high-pitched whimper.

"What's up? Why are you suddenly so pale? Oh wait, you're always pale…" then he noticed something crawling sluggishly by Shulk's feet. "That's what you're scared of!" He picked up the murky green caterpillar and held it up to his twitching friend's face.

Shulk backed up quickly while shuddering, and Reyn started chuckling. "Your face was-hahaha-it was-AHAHAHA!"

If looks could kill, Reyn would have spontaneously combusted. After glaring intensely, Shulk growled, "I have to return to the lab," and left. His friend just nodded and grinned, not having a clue of his vengeful plans.

Hours later, Reyn walked wearily to his house. Evening approached, and he was eager to go home, eat, and get some sleep. However, he sensed something disturbing following him. The unnerved boy turned around slowly, and he discovered that "something" was a swarm of things, each with eight legs and beady little eyes. His exhaustion forgotten, Reyn yelped and crashed comically into the nearest house, which happened to belong to Dunban and Fiora. The two had been eating dinner peacefully until the panicked boy skidded into their house and slammed the door shut. Fiora yelled at him while Dunban raised an eyebrow, half amused and half irritated.

Reyn could only sputter out something along the lines of, "Spiders-they-were-they-surprised me!"

Dunban rose from his seat and opened the abused door slightly. There were the spiders (which were actually mechanical), obediently waiting like trained dogs. The one in front had a note attached to it. The man attempted to hide his smile as he scanned the note and handed it to Reyn.

_You practically asked for it, my friend. Let the war begin._

Reyn narrowed his eyes and said grimly, "So this is how it's gonna be…" He then snatched a piece of bread from the table, stuffed it in his mouth, and marched out the door.


	2. Timely Mistake

It was 8:30 AM when Reyn squatted behind a pack of Armus outside Dunban and Fiora's house. He smirked, thinking of what he'd accomplished.

Last night, Dunban had informed him that Shulk would come over in the morning to fix the stove. To get him back, Reyn had collected a couple of caterpillars early in the morning. He had arrived at the house, and after checking that no one was in the kitchen at that moment, he let loose the wiggling insects.

A restrained chortle escaped him. He couldn't wait to see Shulk's face after he realized that his fear was crawling over his feet! Then he froze in horror as said boy's voice inquired behind him, "Hey, Reyn, why are you crouched suspiciously while spying on that house?"

He gulped nervously. Wasn't Shulk supposed to be inside? He had been sure that someone was in the house. Who could it be then? The thought that it might have been Fiora crossed his mind, and a second later, a feminine shriek rang from the house. It was followed by a loud, irritated shout. "Reyn! I know you're out there, so come in here right now and clean up these bugs!"

Amused, Shulk studied the house with the angry girl in it. _So he tried for revenge, huh?_ he thought. _Maybe I can get Fiora on my side now._

Reyn's face resembled a ripe strawberry. "You were supposed to be inside, fixing whatever that thing is!"

Calmly, Shulk replied, "I finished. You'd better hurry, or Fiora will have your hide."

The anxious boy's eye's widened, and he trudged over to the house, cringing when the angry girl screamed his name.

* * *

That evening, Fiora invited Reyn over for dinner. Eager for her well-known food, he gladly came. However, he discovered that Shulk occupied one of the seats, a small smile tugging at his lips. Dunban sat in another, avoiding eye contact and whistling casually. Reyn frowned and slid into his chair. Once everything was prepared and a bowl of steaming soup was placed in front of him, he dug in.

After the first five seconds, he noticed that something was wrong. The soup held a terribly sour taste, and he felt as if he had been forcibly been fed a pound of lemons. The heat didn't help either. The others just sipped serenely, observing him shudder and gasp.

"What's wrong, Reyn?" Fiora asked with a devious glint in her eyes. "You don't like my cooking?"

He coughed violently. "What did you put in that?"

Fiora giggled. "Arachno intestines."

He promptly began to gag. "You've got to be joking!"

Dunban decided to take pity on him. "She's kidding, Reyn. Nothing is in there that we wouldn't normally eat. Well other than the berry juice, that is," he assured.

"Dunban! You weren't supposed to tell him that!" Fiora whined, but there was a smirk on her face. "Oh well. That's what you get for invading my house," she told Reyn, who desperately chugged down a jar of water.


	3. Unintended Victim

**I apologize about the long wait in updating! I felt guilty when my friend called me out on it, so here is the new(very short) chapter. I hope you enjoy!**

A few days after that dinner, Shulk trod inside Fiora's house, setting up a trap for Reyn. With her assent, he stationed a bucket of water above the entrance so that its contents would pour over whoever opened the door. He stood back, admiring his work. He could just imagine it: Reyn soaked to the bone, sputtering, with his face quickly turning a shade of red.

The image scattered off as he noticed the doorknob turning. Shulk prepared to laugh, only to have the chuckles die in his throat as a girl walked in.

SPLASH! Water crashed down on the figure, temporarily preventing Shulk from seeing who she was. A familiar voice yelped as the stream of water fell, and he immediately recognized her despite not being able to visually identify her for a moment. _Uh-oh_, he thought as the furious High Entia glared at him.

"Shulk! Was this your doing?" Melia accused. She was quite a sight, with everything, including clothes, hair, and wings, dripping wet.

He blinked, trying to find something to say. "Yes, but…"

"But what?" Melia demanded.

"It was meant for Reyn!" Shulk tried to defend himself. "It was supposed to be like a joke."

The empress crossed her arms. "A joke? You Homs can be most eccentric," she said, her rage fading a bit.

"Are you mad? Shulk tentatively asked.

"Why should I be? It **is** just a joke," Melia said, an idea forming in her head.

He didn't like the sly look on her face. "Uh…Melia?"

"Oh, it's all right, Shulk. I will be seeing you later."

The last thing he saw before being overwhelmed by drowsiness and dropping to the floor was the triumphant smirk planted on her face.

* * *

"Shulk! Wake up, man! What happened?" Reyn's loud voice entered his ears as Melia's spell wore off.

Shulk groaned. He made a mental note to never mess with Melia. Luckily, he wasn't wet and cold. "I think I hit my head and fell while carrying water."

Reyn laughed. "You're a bad liar, Shulk! I can see the bucket above the door with all of those fancy mechanisms. You set a trap and hit someone else, didn't you? I'm not stupid!" he gleefully said.

Sighing with exasperation, Shulk gave up on getting up and just lay his head down again. He almost wished he'd woken up later.

**Reviews are appreciated, but I won't bother you with begging. Yet. :)**


	4. A Sticky Situation

Shulk sank into his seat in the lab and scooted to his desk. After spending half the day trying to make it up to Melia and finally succeeding, he was ready to get back to work. He had gotten a request from someone to fix a clock… He didn't know who it was for, though. The damaged object, along with some seemingly rusted gears, had been left on his desk with a note to return it to the Defense Force when fixed.

He picked up one of the gears. Its diameter was about the length of his thumb, and there was nothing special about it except it was…sticky? He tried to pull it off, but his other hand got stuck on it, too.

Shulk frowned in annoyance. He had a feeling that this was set up by Reyn. Sighing, he tried to stand up, but his chair was stuck to him!

Being careful to not touch anything, he set the chair back down. He should have known Reyn would do something like this.

For a few seconds, Shulk just sat there, not knowing what to do. He refused to go out there to get help with a chair on his bottom. The irritated boy briefly considered swinging and bashing it against the wall. He let go of the idea; possibly doing damage to his lab was not an option.

Getting a bit bored, he observed the glue keeping his hands attached to the gear. It was clear, which was why he hadn't noticed it. He detected a bit of a scent that resembled Sticky Web Fibres from Arachno.

Grunting in frustration, he turned his chair and body toward the entrance. Calling for help could work, but it would be embarrassing. Still, what choice did he have?

"Hello? Is anyone there?" he called.

There was no response. Shulk sagged back in defeat.

More minutes passed. The thought of smashing the chair had been creeping back into his mind despite the fact that it was probably too sturdy. Then footsteps echoed towards him.

"Could someone please help me?" he asked desperately. He sighed in relief when Sharla poked her head in.

"What's going on, Shulk?" she asked worriedly.

He explained quickly, and she approached to identify the material. "It seems like an enhanced version of Sticky Web Fibres," she commented.

"How do we get rid of it?" Shulk cried out.

Sharla studied him calmly. "Let's try soaking it with water. It's the universal solvent, right?" she suggested. Within minutes, she had him dunk his hands in a bucket of water that she had carried over. With ease, he removed his hands from the gear.

"Now about the chair…I'll have to splash you from the back."

"What?" Shulk exclaimed, but it was too late; Sharla swung the bucket, making water fly onto the chair and Shulk's backside.

He winced at the cold water, but he immediately switched expressions when he realized he could stand again.

"Thanks, Sharla!" He said, laughing.

"No problem. May I ask why you were stuck on that?"

Grimacing, Shulk began to explain. As he did, he formulated a plan to enact his revenge.


End file.
